Team Panama!: Itinerary

Sunday, March 16
Depart Kansas City
Arrive Panama City

Monday, March 17

Casco Antiguo

We arrived in the oldest part of Panama City at about 10am. At first it was kind of sketchy because where we got off the bus was on the edge of what used to be the impoverished/gang areas of the city but as we started walking down the street to the Colonial part of town the buildings started to look better. As you looked around you could see that only some of the buildings were nice and fixed up. The others were pretty much falling apart and they were the ones that some people were living in. Most of the ones that appeared to be nice on the outside were empty on the inside. All of that doesn't mean that they weren't nice to look at.

Then we stopped at a few historical and famous churches. One of the churches was half fallen apart so only the shell remained and the other church was very well kept and fancy with all the original art. After that we kept walking through the streets seeing all the refurbished buildings. On some of the streets you could even see downtown Panama City with all the Skyscrapers. Eventually we came to some old government buildings with a market around back that even had a flower overhang. From there we walked just a little ways down the road and came to a restaurant/lounge literally called "SWAG," which we all took pics of. From there we went down a few more streets and saw a couple statues and another church being fixed up. Then we walked some more and then, all of the sudden, we came upon the Panamanian White House. We had to go through in separate groups to see the outside of it and it was pretty cool. And from the White House we went up the street and down a set of stairs and met our bus and then headed to the ruins. - John Mathews

Click here for more photos of Casco Antiguo.

Panamá Vieja

Today we went to Panama Vieja, which was really interesting. It is an old city that is now ruins and is one of the Unesco Heritage Sites. This means that they pick out historical sites around the world and preserve them. Panama Vieja means "Old Panama" in English. We found out that it was built in 1519 which is older than most countries including the United States. These ruins are made of limestone and put together by a method called "cal y canto". To put the stones together they use a clay-like substance that is made out of sand, egg whites, bird poop, and animal blood. Which we thought was gross, but kind of clever.

Panama Vieja is thought to have been burned down and torn apart by Henry Morgan "Captain Morgan", but it is not true. We learned that Captain Morgan only took their gold and silver, and after that the Spanish people came in and used the stones from the older buildings to build other cities elsewhere, like the one we were at earlier today. The bell tower was even tall enough to walk up flights of stairs inside of it. From the outside you could see a spiral staircase being cut off from where the fire was, and on the inside they added stairs to walk up. We counted 21 flights of 5 stairs, which is equal to 105 stairs. I thought this was cool to see the ruins that were once buildings, and even getting to walk inside of one and seeing the different views of all the directions. - Meghan Strobel

Panama Canal

The final stop before we headed back to the hotel was at the Panama Canal! And as great a wonder that it is to trade and the concept of ocean to ocean travel is fascinating, it was a boring 45 minute wait for the cargo ship to arrive and for the the interesting things to happen. The ship arrived in the first of two locks, was lowered into the second, then lowered to the Atlantic Ocean. This whole process took an excruciatingly long time, but it was worth the time spent. The most exciting part was when the siren went off indicating the opening of a gate. It was a grand sight and worth the wait.

One thing I hadn't realized was that the canal implements the use of railed train engines that control the movement of ships completely. It takes up to 6-8 of the locomotives to move the ships. Another thing I hadn't realized is that those big boats remain off the whole time while in the canal. All movement (alignment, forward/backward) is done by the locomotives tethered to the ship. Most ships that come through the canal are gigantic cargo ships. The ship we saw pass through only had 24 inches of clearance on either side. The canal is 100 years old as of 2014.

The Canal was first established in 1914. When it was under United States control it was a completely militarized zone, but as of 1999 it has been property of Panama and exclusively used for public and trade use. In the first six years of Panamanian control it made more money than the entirety of 86 years that it was in United States control. - Wyatt Parmley

Welcome Dinner

After our long day of exploring and learning about the history of Panama City, we finished off our day to dinner at a restaurant we can’t remember the name of. We were the only group inside the building which was perfect because we are very loud, but there were other people eating outside. The restaurant was very nice and had games of soccer teams I have never heard of playing on the televisions. We started the meal with a choice of salad or a carrot cream soup. I chose the soup which was very good and had a tomato soup like resemblance in texture. We then received a plate with a mixture of fish, rice, plantain, and chicken. The chicken was my personal favorite and was one of the best chicken I have had in my life. The rest of the meal was also very delicious.

For dessert we were treated with flan which is similar to cheesecake with syrup. Our waiter was very nice and was understanding with our lack of spanish and was glad to be serving us. After dessert we had the option to buy batidos which are fresh fruit smoothies. The batidos were my favorite thing I had all day and made me want to buy at least two every day.

While the waiter was bringing out our batidos, we came up with the idea to sing our school song just to establish dominance within the restaurant. Singing the school song was hilarious and created a great memory even though the waiters gave us a weird look and just continued to serve us our drinks. This dinner was an excellent start to our trip and I am looking forward to experiencing many more food options throughout our journey. - Eric Peterson

Tuesday, March 18

Portobelo

The first place we went to in Portobelo was the iglesia de Jesus negro. Which means black Jesus in Spanish. The church was built in the 1690, but it was founded in the 1500's. The church was made out of wood. There is only one Black Jesus church in Panama, but there are many all over the world. Black Jesus is celebrated internationally. The 21 of October is the day of celebration. Over 1,000 people come from many places to celebrate. As they get closer to the church some may start to crawl on their knees. Sometimes it would take 4 to 5 days. Each year the Black Jesus statue gets a new robe. For families, it is an honor to make the new robe.

The Spanish shipped emeralds, gold, pearls and silver from Portobelo. When the Spanish got 15 or 20 ships, they would travel back to Spain. This was a very attractive target for the pirates. Sir Francis Drake raided Spanish settlements throughout the Americas and attacked a smaller fortress at Portobelo in 1596. The Spanish killed Sir Francis Drake and buried him in a bay in a lead coffin. Henry Morgan attacked San Lorenzo in 1668. It was a successful raid. In 1671, he attacked a second time in Portobelo. He attacked across land and got away again. Because of continuing problems with pirates, the Spanish held their treasures at the Customs House until it was ready to ship. - Analise Gill

students spelling out "Panama"

Click here for more photos of Portobelo.

Isla Grande

After Portabelo, we rode the bus another 20 minutes or so to a small boat dock. We all got in two small boats and had a quick ride over to Isla Grande.

Everything about the island screamed Caribbean - from the music to the colorful buildings to the clear, shallow water. The first thing we saw was a statue of Jesus in the middle of the water, and we swam out and got some group photos. A local told us that the owner of the island had a very sick son, so he went to the church in Portabelo and prayed to the Black Jesus that if he healed his son, he would honor him with a statue. Once his son was healed, he immediately made the statue of Jesus on the cross on his island!

We had a delicious lunch, most of us had the fresh pescado, aka fish. Then we had a long walk to the other side of the island to swim, and by the time we got there we were so hot and sweaty we were dying to get in the water! Some of us had a football, frisbee and softball. After about an hour, Nick P, Avery, Wyatt and I went to find out about getting some snorkeling gear, and after some bargaining and talking to many people, we managed to find some gear and a secluded cove. We were joined by Jenna, Megan and Chill Barb, and although we didn't see anything spectacular, it was still very neat.

At the end of the day while we waited for the boat to pick us up, some of us enjoyed batidos, which are delicious fruit smoothies. We were treated to an early sunset on the boat ride to the mainland. I don't know about everyone else, but I definitely needed the two hour bus ride back to Panama City to recover from such a big day. - Katie Schwalm

Click here for more photos of Isla Grande.

Wednesday, March 19

Zip Lining

Today at the zip line adventure in Panama we had a blast. Most were scared and waited till the fearless ones (like me) went first. We rode on 4 different lines. The first one was slow and short. It let us get the hang of stopping ourselves, so the workers could catch us. The next line was faster and it was a lot longer than the first. The third one was the most fun, you could chose to go forwards, backwards, or even upside down. I personally rode upside down! It had the most gorgeous view—a breathtaking waterfall. The last line was similar to the second line, but a little longer and I watched a sloth hanging in the tree above!

When comparing this zip line to the one I rode in Mexico, it was different because the lines in Mexico were a lot higher and longer and there were maybe 20 lines. The third line here was the only one that compared to the ones in Mexico. It was still a great experience to watch the people who haven't ever gone zip lining before and to see their faces before and after they flew on the line. Probably my favorite thing we have done so far! - Cole Wolff

Valle de Antón

The Valle de Antón all originated from an ancient volcanic eruption that caused the rocks broken off from the top of the volcano to fall into the volcano and plug it. Which caused the eruptions over the following years to explode out of the sides of the volcano and over hundreds of thousands of years it would come out and spread over a large area to form the places for towns and the mountains we saw here today. The trip to the town we went to today was all uphill and had a lot of curves the whole way, when finally making it we came down just a little bit and it flattened out a lot, this is because it would be like us going up the ancient volcano and entering into the mouth of it, which is now just a mostly flat surface a little lower than the outside surrounding, creating a crater like shape. The land is covered with forests that we were able to walk through during the long hike on our way to zip lining.

After zip lining we made a stop by Piedra Pintada to see an extremely large rock that had been carved in by the indigenous people of Panama. It is believed by experts on indigenous people to be a kind of map of the town they were in and the surrounding towns. However, it was not easy to tell because the people who once lived in this area were so much different from others around the world. The people would gather around the area for town meetings to discuss problems or plans in the community they were a part of. Originally it was carved
but people later painted the carvings black and white which made it obvious that they were not random carvings.

Hector, a local teenager showed us around the carvings and pointed out different parts of it. As he did this, we sat around on the layers of rocks to listen just like the indigenous people did years ago. It was very interesting to learn about some of their culture, especially from a local guy that knew so much about it, even if we couldn’t understand a word he said because of all the slang and had to have it translated later by our buddy and guide named Kenny.

Today we also got to go to a Panamanian zoo! The zoo was a lot different than the zoos in the United States. Besides animals, the zoo had a lot of beautiful trees and plants.The Nispero Zoo started with just a few exotic pets and was simply a family place where people could see a few cool animals. As time went on, more and more animals were added, some local and some foreign. Many of the foreign animals originated in Australia and Africa! Some of us were even able to see some wild animals who were the same animals that were a part of the zoo. Monkeys were more than happy to reach into our bag of corn for the animals and help themselves to it and whatever else they could get their hands on in our hands or bags. It was really cool to be able see some of the animals that were around the area along with some foreign ones! As of now, the zoo is in the process of trying to move toward only having local animals instead of the mix they have now. The entire place was extremely beautiful and a lot of fun! The day as a whole was a lot of fun and was an awesome way to learn about culture and about what formed the indescribable scenery that is always around us. - Michael Burton

Market Visit

When we arrived at the market, it was hustle and bustle. Everyone crowded around one table with different kinds of knives and bracelets. It was very busy today, because a presidential candidate was in town to speak, a lottery was happening, and there was also a celebration for a patron saint. Soon enough, everyone was split up making their way around the booths buying, bargaining, and gazing - it was a different environment than we were used to.

All the shops would help the other vendors if they needed change. Normally in Kansas if the stores don't have change, you can't buy anything or you won’t get any money back. There were what look liked friendship bracelets that we would normally make at home, but with a twist. A few people were able to bargain down the price. I, on the other hand, couldn’t do it and I had to have Cole do it for me. This is where pretty much everyone bought gifts for their family and friends.

There was also a market where you could buy fresh fruit and veggies or other types of snacks. Ms. Marten got “Cheetos Poffs” which are a Panama-style of Cheeto Puffs. They tasted more natural and less-processed than those we have back home.

While leaving the market, we passed a local fair and everyone decided we had to get off the bus and investigate. There were carnival games, clothing, jewelry, and food booths. The clothing was typical American apparel: Puma, Nike, Adidas, etc. Katie and Phillip thought they were buying some authentic Panama steak, but the vendor covered the kabobs in Kraft BBQ sauce before handing them over. There was also a band playing on stage. Reese, Eric, and Nevin went up on stage and took pictures with the band. We definitely stood out.

The fair was a totally different experience than Maple Leaf. There were rides, but they didn't seem as safe. There was also a sketchy haunted house. A few from our group went through it and said it was just like a haunted house back home, though it wasn’t scary. - Courtney Douglas

Thursday, March 20

Chitré

Chitré is one of the oldest towns in Panama. It was settled in 1848 and has been up and running ever since. Life in Chitré is centered around its massive agricultural system. The thing that is grown the most is watermelon. Chitré's indigenous people are well known for a unique style of dancing and its festivals. A unique and popular bread made in Chitré is the pan de la Arena.

During our stay in Chitré, we stayed in a hotel called AZUERO. We also visited smaller towns like Poblados, Guarare, and La Arena. On the way back from Chitré, we stopped at a roadside stand that was selling pepitas de marañon, which we call cashews. Also they were selling little candies, dulce de leche, that were made from condensed milk and sugar and then cooked. Entering the town, it seemed kind of like Lawrence, however as we went on into the town, it seemed to get more ghetto.

To pass the time during the bus ride, we played with FaceFusion and started to fuse our faces with each other. I’m sharing some of these below. In order: Mrs. Honomichl (AKA Chillamichl) and our bus driver Freddy, Corey and Freddy creating the Hispanic Legolas, Eric and Reese creating the perfect middle linebacker, and finally the most popular: Chillamichl and Mike. - Nick Pattrick

Pollera Workshop

Today we went to a pollera workshop. A pollera is a traditional Panamanian dress and is worn by women and girls at festivals. The women who make the polleras live only in the Chitré region of Panama. The name of the woman who showed us the polleras was Dilsa Vergara de Saavedrea. She has been to Spain and presented her polleras and placed second in the world for best pollera. The main festival where polleras are worn is Carnaval – the celebration before the start of Lent.

What is a pollera?
The pollera has 3 different parts: a shirt, a petticoat and a skirt. Everything on the dress is made by hand. The polleras are made of a heavy cloth, embroidery thread and sometimes lace. The dress is heavy and very hot. The dress also has a matching head covering. The polleras have many different colors. No two polleras are the same. Even though the petticoat goes under the main skirt, there is still embroidery on it. One pollera can range between $3,000 and $10,000, depending on how much embroidery is put on it, and may take 2 years to complete.

The process of making a pollera
A girl comes to the dressmaker two years before she wants the dress and she tells her what she wants. After the client leaves, the woman starts working on the design for the pollera by drawing it on paper. After the design is planned, the girl comes back and sees if the design is ok. If it is not, she either starts over or makes some changes. When the pattern is perfect, the woman traces the design onto the white fabric. She then outlines the tracing with stitching in the appropriate color. Next, she fills in the basic pattern with heavy embroidery. After that process is done, the woman begins the more detailed delicate work. She does this last because doing the outside work first helps pull the fabric tighter so it's easier to do. After all parts of the dress are done, the girl comes back to try it on. Alterations are made and then it's done. Sometimes additional items can be made for the dress, like a shawl.

Trying on a pollera
After the woman explained the polleras to us, she looked at all the girls to find one who could fit into a pollera she was working on. Katie Schwalm was the lucky girl. The woman helped her into all the different parts of the dress and then she came and showed us and we took many photos. - Allison Waymire

Pottery Workshop

Today we went to a pottery shop. Its name was Ceramicá Calderon. It was located in the town Arena near Chitré. The owner of the pottery shop was Señor Calderon. He started making pottery when he was eleven and was taught by his father. His father was also in the pottery business. After years of working with his father, he got married and started his own business. His dad helped him build his shop. At the beginning, he only earned fifteen dollars a week. He started with eleven employees. They learned how to make pottery and later left to start their own businesses.

He is very proud of his work and wants to keep working. He still enjoys teaching people how to make pottery as well. Yesterday, he made one hundred plates in four hours. That’s how much he enjoys his job.

How does he make his pottery? Glad you asked. He uses a pottery wheel using his foot to spin the wheel. He begins by kicking stone wheel that spins the upper potter’s wheel, as it picks up speed, he forms the clay into a high funnel. Then he puts his thumb in the clay and slowly forms the clay into a bowl. He uses different pieces of plastic and tools to shape and smooth the clay. When he’s done, he uses a piece of wire to cut the pot off the wheel. With the amount of clay on his wheel, he made five pieces of pottery. One of them was in the shape of an apple.

Finally, some people got to try to make something on the wheel. Karina, Duncan, Analise, Allison, Nick P., Maddie, Eric, Wyatt, Courtney, Phillip, Meghan, Reese, Jenna, Corey, Nick J., and Michael made bowls, saucers, cups. One of our chaperones (Megan) tried to make a gravy boat. - Avery Clipsham

Friday, March 21

Monkey Island

Howler Monkeys

To get to Monkey Island our group had to take 3 separate boats. Each boat was given a guide who explained the history of the Panama Canal and the different creatures and vegetation on the islands. My boat made a few stops on our way to the island. Our first stop was in the middle of the canal; here he explained that the Panamanians are working to make the Canal wider. He also reminded us that it is the Canal’s 100th anniversary. Next, we went to another island that our guide told us U.S. workers used to rent while they were in Panama working.

While making our way to Monkey Island, we saw a tree called “Palo Santo” or Holy Stick. These red trees only bloom for 20 days during Holy Week, We also saw a pink flowered oak tree called Tabebuia and a purple tree called Jacaranda.

“Monkey Island” was actually a couple of islands. On the first island, we saw a few howler monkeys high in the trees. At the next island, we saw four Capuchin or white-faced monkeys. Our guides gave us bananas to feed the monkeys. The monkeys would jump onto our boat and take the bananas right out of our hands. Our guide for the week, Kenny, explained that the monkeys were placed on the island by a group of scientists. This way they could study them and keep track of them more easily.

Mom and Baby

Along with the monkeys and trees, we saw a handful of birds including: the Little Blue Heron, White Egret, Purple Ani, and the Orange Belly Whistling duck. After this two-hour boat ride, many of us took naps to be ready for our next adventure. - Maddie Ogle (Adventure Club)

Emberá

We arrived at the Chagres National Park in the afternoon, our coolers full of fruit that we planned to give to the Embera community as a gift, and boarded some boats to head down the river. We drove through plants that were thick like a carpet on the top of the water and then around a bend. As soon as we were around the bend, we could see the tops of the houses in the village and children running out to greet us at the sound of the motors.

We walked through the main building where people were selling things and doing dances and playing music, and up some steps to a smaller building where some women were cooking and chatting; it reminded me of my kitchen on Thanksgiving. For lunch, they served us fresh fruit, cooked tilapia and plantains.

Soon, a man came into the building in traditional dress (beaded ambura and a loincloth, and a beaded odiabadis sash over his chest and back; the individual beads are called chaquida) and explained to us that though they do not wear these things today, they are traditional clothing of the Embera people and they like to wear them when people come to visit.

He told us about the materials they use to make their clothes, too. He passed around a cortesa, which is made of the bark of palm trees, stripped into thin fibers and woven together. It was much softer than it sounds. Then a woman came (she spoke the native dialect, so the man had to translate it to Spanish for us to understand) and showed us her dyed palm fibers. She told us that they use chocolate, lemons, and other natural items to color the fibers.

The Embera people come from a region of Panama called Darien, it is close to the eastern border of the country, which it shares with Colombia. The indigenous dialect is not Spanish, however many of them do speak or at least understand Spanish. The houses that we saw are the houses that they actually live in, and the man told us that in most houses there are usually 3 generations of a family living together. The homes are built on a hill, with only one or two walls; everything is very open. The roofs are made of leaves and fibers from the palmera, or palm trees.

After we had eaten, watched and participated in the traditional dance, looked at all of their handmade goods and received tatuajes de jagua (henna tattoos), we presented them a soccer ball from Nick’s Sporting KC scholarship program. Nick showed off some cool skills, and then the kids ran off to play with the ball.

After all this, we hopped in some boats and went to a new spot on the river. We hiked for about 20 minutes and came across a waterfall. We all got to swim and jump in off the rocks in the waterfall. Then we headed back on the boats and called it a day. - Jenna VonBargen

hiking to the waterfall

Meghan jumping off the waterfall ledge

Saturday, March 22

On Saturday, our bus took us to Santa Clara for our students' family stay. We made three stops along the main road for students to meet up with their families: one in Nuevo Emperador, one in Santa Clara, and one in Huille. Before the first stop, students were starting to get a bit nervous. However, once the bus stopped, Mónica (the homestay coordinator) came onto the bus and began speaking with the students. She immediately helped to assuage their anxiety by telling them everybody in Santa Clara was calm and happy.

students listening to Mónica

After speaking with everybody on the bus, she read off a list of students' names who were staying in that particular area. As students' names were called one by one, the remaining students on the bus clapped and cheered for their departing classmates as if they were being called from the audience to participate in a game show. The students made tentative, but warm introductions to their home stay families who were waiting to greet them as they got off the bus.

Courtney and her Panamanian family

Avery with her host mom

Duncan with his host brother

Cole with his host family

Zach with his home stay envoy - his host mom followed the SUV
on that 4-wheeler

Katie with her host family and Mónica (on the right)

saying goodbye to Kenny, our guide, and Freddy, our driver

Sunday, March 23 - Thursday, March 27
Family Stay

Friday, March 28

On Friday, students were picked up from Santa Clara, Nuevo Emperador, and the surrounding areas. This was the last day of their home stay, and it was time to say good-bye and travel back to Panama City.